WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University women's basketball team defeated the Sacred Heart University Pioneers (19-13) 90-59 Friday evening in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) at McDonough Arena. With the win, the Hoyas improve to 17-15 on the season and advance to the second round of the tournament for the second-consecutive season. Additionally, it was a career night for senior guard Dionna White (Baltimore, Md. / Milford Mill) who became just the second Hoya in program history to score 2,000 career points. 
 
"After the BIG EAST Tournament, we talked about starting a new season and this right here is postseason," said Georgetown Head Coach James Howard.  "We told our team to go out there and do something that hasn't been done.  Last year we won our first game in the tournament and this year we want to win to.  I think our effort showed that tonight and I was extremely proud of our performance."
 
White and graduate student guard Dorothy Adomako (Midlothian, Va. / Cosby) both led the team with 21 points apiece.  Adomako pulled down eight boards to lead the team, and White managed six to go along with seven assists and three steals.  Rounding out those in double figures was freshman guard Nikola Kovacikova (Levice, Slovakia / UKF Nitra) who notched 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds.  It was a total team effort as 11 Hoyas scored a point in the win.
 
Georgetown outrebounded Sacred Heart 41-32 and shot an impressive 54.2 percent (39 of 72) from the field.  The defense forced 15 SHU turnovers on seven steals and allowed the Pioneers 30.8 percent (16 of 52) shooting from the field.
 
The Hoyas jumped out to a quick lead as a fast-break layup from Adomako sparked a 7-0 run which included five points from White.  The Pioneers answered to stop the run, but Adomako and junior forward Anita Kelava (Zagreb, Croatia / Croatian National Team / Maine) combined to make it a 10-point game 14-4 early on.
 
Late in the first, Sacred Heart managed five quick points to cut it down to a two-possession game.  However, freshman guard Cassandra Gordon (Santa Barbara, Calif. / Santa Barbara ) would lay in the fast break layup and even a Pioneer free throw to end the quarter would make it 21-15 in favor of the Blue & Gray.
 
Georgetown continued to turn defense into offense in the second as two fast-break layups helped GU move ahead by 11, 27-16.  Following the layup from senior guard Brianna Jones (North Babylon, N.Y. / North Babylon / Louisville), Sacred Heart came roaring back with a 6-0 run to make it a five-point game with 5:08 remaining in the second stanza.
 
Following a scoring drought from both squads, Adomako sank a pair of baskets and Kovacikova scooped in a layup to make it 33-22 with under a minute to go.  Georgetown went for the last shot, but it clanged off of the rim.  SHU got the rebound and managed to heave one up and in to make it 33-25 at the half.
 
White opened the second half with a bucket, but the Pioneers sank a trey from the top of the key.  White answered right back to spark a 11-1 run capped off by a shot from Kelava to make it 46-29 and force a Pioneer timeout.  The break didn't help as Georgetown added a 10-0 run building the lead to 53-29 and forcing another timeout as Sacred Heart searched for a way to stop the high-powered Hoya offense.
 
Late in the third, White hit the 2,000-point milestone and with the crowd going wild, GU continued to climb leading 59-35 at the end of the third period.     
 
As the Hoya coaching staff rotated in different lineups, the Pioneers never found a way to battle back.  The Blue & Gray dominated from start to finish and Georgetown cruised to the 90-59 victory securing a second-round berth. 
 
The Hoyas will travel to Harvard University on Sunday afternoon for a 3 p.m. second round matchup.  Live stats and a webcast will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.